By Katie Ginn
In 1951, the late Dr. Samuel Gore began teaching art in a former cafeteria in a Mississippi College dormitory. Over the years, Gore developed MC’s art curriculum, recruited artistically inclined students, cultivated a significant interest in art on campus, and established the Sam Gore Art Scholarship Endowment. MC’s full-time art faculty grew from one to six, and art degree programs expanded to include a Master of Fine Arts.
When MC purchased the historic Clinton Junior High building in 2010, Gore created floor plans and a 3D model showing how the space could be used for the art department. He laid his hands on the building and prayed. At the time, MC used the space as storage. Funds were unavailable for renovation.
When Dr. Blake Thompson became president of MC in 2018, Dr. Gore met with him to discuss using that space for art. Within two years, plans were underway. The space was named after the “founding father” of the MC Art Department, who had poured into Mississippi College for 70 years.
“The Gore Arts Complex opened in the fall of 2023 and represents the latest chapter in MC’s long legacy of excellence in art programs and commitment to faith. Dr. Sam Gore transformed lives through his art and his teaching, and MC is continuing that legacy through this important facility that bears his name,” Thompson said.
Today, you can walk through the former junior high school and see MC students working in studio spaces specifically dedicated to painting, sculpture, papermaking, pastels, woodworking, and stagecraft.
The Gore complex also includes an outdoor covered kiln and courtyard for firing ceramics.
“We went from maybe one operating kiln to a salt fire and a soda fire kiln, raku firing, and traditional kilns beyond that – and two studios, one hand-built and one wheel thrown,” said Stephanie Busbea, dean of MC’s School of Christian Studies, Humanities, and the Arts. “The ceramics facilities are some of the best in the Southeast now.”
The Entergy Theatre at the Gore complex isn’t just for larger MC art classes but also for community gatherings. And MC holds community art classes at the complex, including summer art camps for elementary students and classes for high-school students.
“The high-school classes are taught by our professors. So it’s a great opportunity for high-school students, some local, some not so local, to come and spend a week in a college environment with a college instructor,” Busbea said.
Recent graduates of MC’s art education program run the elementary camp, where students get to try ceramics, painting, drawing, and printmaking.
It isn’t just artists and future artists who benefit from the complex, Busbea added.
“With this amount of space, we’re able to offer (art) classes for non-majors,” she said. “Biology students love taking ceramics.”
Through generous donations, $4 million of the $6 million goal for the Gore Arts Complex has been raised. MC welcomes gifts in memory of Dr. Samuel Gore, in honor of an artist or future artist, to name a classroom, or to support the MC arts program.